A group of Houston Muslims peacefully protested the Muhammad cartoons yesterday.

More than 100 Muslim men, women and children rallied Friday at City Hall to praise the Prophet Muhammad as a peaceful man and to criticize Danish cartoons portraying him as violent.

Organizers said they wanted Houstonians to understand who Muhammad was and what he means to Muslims.

"On the one hand (the cartoons) are an insult, like a punch in the stomach," said Hyder Ali Syed, a pharmacist and one of the organizers of Houston's Muslims for Peace and Justice, a newly formed coalition.

"On the other hand, the reverence we have for him stems from the fact that he taught us a way of life and all the positives that you can imagine," Syed said. "He reformed society and brought in so many changes for the good."

The coalition includes the Islamic Education Center, the Al-Ghadeer Education Foundation and Al-Murtaza. Participants, who included both Sunni and Shiite Muslims, chanted and marched around City Hall with signs bearing such slogans as "Islam Frees the Soul," "Please Draw Carefully — We (heart) Our Prophet" and "Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad — peace be upon them."

Good for them. They behaved like civilized human beings. I can disagree with them on the nature of their false prophet while still according them respect for having absorbed a sufficient amount of Western culture to not engage in the antics of their brothers and sisters back in the old country -- or even the radical Islamists in Europe who called for the murder of the cartoonists and those of us who published the cartoons.

However, I love the connection they try to draw here.

Protests over the cartoons swept the Islamic world in January and early February. Syed said they had discussed a local protest earlier, but were spurred into action by the Feb. 22 bombing of the Al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq.

"We had one insult to our holy personality the prophet and now the mosque, where the descendants of the prophet are buried is destroyed," he explained.

But he told the gathering that it was not the time for animosity. Muslims need to encourage understanding between religions and be calm and open-minded, he said.

So what is the connection between Europeans drawing cartoons accurately depicting your religion's false prophet and your fellow Muslims destroying one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrine in an attempt to provoke a civil war? Is it your intent to blame America, Europe, and Israel for the barbarism of your own people? Or are you attempting to make a direct accusation without coming out and saying it?

So, Hyder Ali Syed, how about if you hold a rally next weekend protesting your fellow Muslims and their acts of violence -- like the destruction of the Al-Askariya Mosque, the beheading of hostages, or perhaps even 9/11. Maybe then I will come out and join you.

Posted by: Greg at 05:27 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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